Friction roll for spinning and drawing textile fibers



.5.1. GUAY. l FRICTION ROLL FR SPINNING AND DRAWING TEXTILE FIBERS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 10| 192|- Patented Nov. 28, i922.

fr) va/7150i" [fm/7e J. Gua

His fitto/"hey Patented Nov. A28, 1922.

UNITED srarlazsv PATENT OFFICE.

EMILE'y J. GUAY, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

FRICTION ROLL FOR SPINNING AND DBAIVING TEXTILE`FIBERS.

Application filed February '10, 1921. Serial No. 443,923;

T0 all/whom t may concern.'

IBeit known that I, EMiLE J. GUAY, a. citizen of the United States, residing at Lynn, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, havel invented` certain new and useful Improvementsin Friction Rolls for Spinning and Drawing Textile Fibers, of which the following is a specification` The present invention relates .to friction rollsused for spinning and drawing textile fibers inf. the manufacture ofy twine, yarn, carpet backing, etc. MoreI specifically my invention relates to that type of rollv comprising a body of spinnable textile iibers'in which the fibers are held'under compression by. suitable endv platesr and shrouds.

As heretofore constructed everyf effort has' beenmade to ensure a` uniform pressure on' the fibers throughout the entire roll which pressure has beenrelatively great. Also it has been customary to provideeach roll with 'a-v central metallic bushing which revolves about a ,stationaryl metal shaft.V IAs these rolls, when in use revolve at a relatively high speed, the construction necessitates the free:us'efof lubricant. Such use of lubricant is objectionablel for the reason that it frequently gets on the yarn and injures it and also because of vthelabor involved incident to ts'fuse" and the. cost of the lubricant itself.

I have invented ordiscovered a way for *improvingy the construction of these rolls whereby the use of metallic ,bushings is obviated andV the amount' of lubricant reducedy to such a small amount that its use is unobjectionable. I have further discovered kthat improved results can .be obtained by reducing. the.y pressure on the fibers at the .working facef of the roll. Incidentally, this latter` feature. results in-a smallsaving in the amountofcotton.v or other textilev liber used in. the construction of. the roll.

Briefly stated, my invention resides in: so

forming. thel` roll that the textilev fibers are compressedto/af greater extent in the region ofthe center -thanthey are at the periphery or. working face of the roll and utilizing thefibers in thehighly compressed central part to/form abearing for the roll.

-For alcon'sideration o fl what I believe. to be novel and my invention, attention is disrected, to. the. accompanying;` description and the claims appended thereto.

As the former is cheaper in that it avoids' many manufacturingI operations,- I prefer to use it. The cottonor other batting` is suitably treated and compressed into ysheets from which disks 3 of the proper size are cut. by suitable dies. These are later stacked ina pile for final compression. In addition,.one or more auxiliary pieces or pads 4@ are-pro# vided which are relativelyy thick in the center and taper outwardly toa relatively thin edge. These. pads are preferably placed one oneach sidey of the main body and at the center thereof, but if desired they maybe placed on one side only, or otherwise disposed. The pad or pads' serve a double purpose; first, they increase the axial length of the rollat the hub to afford thel necessary length of bearingsurface, and. second, they serve-as means whereby the"desired-compresa sion of the fibers at thecenter of the roll can be obtained to ensure a suitable and longlife bearing.

To hold the fibers underproper compression end. plates or shrouds 5 are employed. These are dished outwardly at 6 by a predetermined amount. This amountis determined by the lengthr of the bearing surface 7 and by the desired compression pressure on the fibers. Briefly stated, the fibers at the periphery' should be compressed to the ex'- tentV necessary to make a `good long life fric-v tion surface, and those at. the center or hubV to the extent necessary to` form a good long life bearing. In making the roll care should be exercised notl to crushV the fibers at any point, and in. this connection thev surfaces of the shrouds which engage the fibers. should. be free. of sharp corners.

After thev parts areY formed they are' assembled in. a press and. subjected to suithigher in this region than in the outer region.y After the desired compression is obtainedv and before the roll is removed from the press, a suitable clamp or fixture is applied which holds the cotton fibers under the desired compression. The clamp or fixture may be applied in part before or after the press is operated Whichever is the most convenient. The main thing is to compress the cotton and hold it in this condition While later operations are being performed. After being clamped the roll is removed from the press and suitable holes bored to receive the rivets, screws `oreepiivalent means 8 which holdthe plates in the desired relation and the cotton under compression.y As shown rivets are employed Which make a driving fit in the holes andare electrically headed. After this operation the retaining clamp is removed.

The next step is to bore ythe center to form the bearing surface and turn ofi the peripheral surface of the roll. It is to be noted that the `end plates Aare of slightly less diameter than the'body of `the roll. This is to prevent their contacting with the material which isbeing acted upon by the roll. As the surface Wears it can be dressed again and again, cutting back the end plates when necessary. Not only does a roll of this kind have a very long life initially, but since it can be dressed from time to time its life may be thereby greatly prolonged. It is also to be noted that the platesjadjacent the bore are beveled at 9- to a 'relatively thin edge. This is to reduce tov a minimum the amount of metal which can rubon the shaft. After turning the shaft opening is carefully reamed to the exact diameter. It is necessary to hold the cotton under compression at the bore but if desired the bore'in the end plates can be made a few thousandths larger than the bore of the bearing proper.

'Inside the roll is a stationary steel shaft 10. A cotton bearing surface under these conditions, will run With very little lubri-I cant, far less than a metallic bearing under similar circumstancesl as experience has demonstrated'. To provide for this small amount the shaft is provided with a suit able oil Well 11 or other lubricating device which is in communication with aichannel 13 leading into the center of the bearing. For some purpose the feature of a long bearing is unnecessary although the density ofthe cotton at this point must be high in order to afford a good bearingsurface. In

such cases the end plates or shrouds 14, Fig; 3, will be made fiat instead'of dished. Byusing Aauxiliary pieces or pads 15 the density of the cotton at the center may be made as high as desired Without, however,

-making the periphery unduly hard. The y `inserite end plates may be united in any suitable manner to hold the spinnable textile fibers under suitable compression.

For the purpose of illustration the lines indicating the planes of division between the disks or elements of which the roll is composed have been made rather heavy. As a matter of fact in the actual roll the planes of division can hardly be seen. To bring out the `fact that the roll is made up of disks, those adjacent to each other have been cross'hatched in opposite directions is usual in such matters. In practice the fibers in each ldisk largelyextend in the same general direction, i. e: perpendicular to the axis. Y

By making thecenter of the roll hard a good bearing surface is afforded which permits the roll to freely revolve on the shaft with minimum friction. By making the periphery of thel roll relatively soft it Will'l have a high coefficient of friction and.` thus permit the fibers which are being acted upon byit and the companion'roll to be stretched Without pressure enough being exerted to break them. Obviously anything which prevents breaking of the fibers results in less stopping of the machinery and hence makes for economy of operation. Not only do these relatively soft face rolls draw the fibers more satisfactorily than do hard face rollsbut lesspower is required to drive them which results saving in operation. l'

As an illustration of my invention but not as a limitation, the initial ,compression pressure at the center of the roll such asl shown .in 1 andI 2`-may be, approxi; mately eight tons per square inch While that at the outer portion'may be fromone to tivo tons per square inch.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, kI have described the prin` ciple of operation of my invention, to.

gether With the apparatus' which I noyv consider to represent the` best embodiment in a further thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the vapparatus shown is only fillustra tive and that the Ainvention may be carried out by other means.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States. is,-

1. A roll for the purpose described comprising'a body composed of spinnable tex tile fibers with end Vplates for holding they fibers under compression characterized by the fact that the body and plates are provided. with a shaft opening, the fibers of the body 4surrounding the opening 4being held under Igreatercompression by the end plates than the remaining fibers of the body and forming a bearing surface adaptedfto en-` gage a shaft and form` a running support for the roll.

2. A roll for the described oom'- prising a body Wholly composed of coinpressed spinnable textile fibers characterized by the fact that the compression pressure on the fibers at the center is high and decreases toward the periphery.

3. A roll for the purpose described coin.- prising a body of compressed spinnable textile fibers characterized by the fact that the central portion forms a bearing and is more highly compressed than the outer portion which forms a friction surface.

4. A roll for the purpose described comprising a body of compressed spinnable textile fibers characterized by the fact thatthe central portion is thickened in an axial direction to form a bearing and is more highly compressed than is the peripheral portion which forms a friction surface- 5. A roll for the purpose described comprising a body of spinnable textile fibers, plates for holding the fibers under compres.- sion, and means for uniting said plates, characterized by the fact that the plates exert a greater compression pressure on'the central portion of the body than on the peripheral portion.

6. A roll for the purpose described coinprising a main body portion, pads on opposite sides of said body and at the central region thereof, said body and pads being bored to receive the shaft and form a bearing, and means for ho-lding the pads and portions of the body adjacent thereto under a greater compression than the peripheral portion of the body.

7. A roll for the purpose described comprising a body of spinnable textile fibers, end plates for holding the fibers under compression and means for uniting the end plates, characterized by the fact that the body is thicker at the center than at the periphery and that the end plates are outwardly dished at their central portions and exert a greater compression pressure on the fibers located near the center of the body than on those near the periphery.

8. A roll for the purpose described cornprising a body built up of disks composed of spinnable textile fibers of substantially uniform thickness and auxiliary material in the form of a tapered pad located at the center thereof, end plates for the roll, one of Which is dished or enlarged at its center, and means for holding the plates in fixed relation whereby the fibers a-re held under a greater compression at the center than at the periphery.

ln Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of February, 1921.

ENULE J. GUAY. 

